Fake Scammer Instagram Sites

Casey Brown

Casey Brown

Well-Known Member
I just got followed by this user smith_blades_knives on Instagram. After looking at their website, I saw one of Lin Rhea's Bowie's and one of Bob Kramer's commercial chef knives listed for sale on their site. I let Lin know, and he actually DM'd the guy to ask how much for the knife. The guy replied back $130. Funny, a little, but wanted to let people know that these sites are popping up. I've been followed now by a few sites that I have eventually blocked because I don't want them copying pictures from my site. If you have an Instagram site, I recommend taking a look at your follower list and see if any of these type sites are following you.
 
I had a guy claiming one of my knives as his. It took showing him a blown up picture with my maker's mark on it before he would remove it. The worst part is, they get their account reported and removed and they just make a new one and do it all over again. I need to go through mine and clean house.
 
So far I have found smith_blades_knives, blacksmith70, and Dresharper as sites that had obvious knives from other makers. You may want to check your follower list for these and block them so they can't copy any of your pictures.
 
Casey Brown said:
So far I have found smith_blades_knives, blacksmith70, and Dresharper as sites that had obvious knives from other makers. You may want to check your follower list for these and block them so they can't copy any of your pictures.
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Dumbo alert !!!
Since I don't do any of these kinda sites (Instagram or Facebook or Twitter or the like) I don't understand what is happening to your photos. Are these pirates selling fake knives with your name or what?
 
I need to check mine as well. This is one thing I detest about computers and the Internet. It makes it so easy to scam people.
 
Bruce McLeish said:
Dumbo alert !!!
Since I don't do any of these kinda sites (Instagram or Facebook or Twitter or the like) I don't understand what is happening to your photos. Are these pirates selling fake knives with your name or what?
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So Instagram is a wonderful platform. But, when you're a public profile, scammers and junk peddlers lift your images (which is what IG is all about) and either post your content and claim it as their own, clone your account, or "sell" items that aren't actually in their possession.

I typically get 5-10 new follows a week that I ignore or block. They eventually evaporate and I get more new follows. I assume there are a relatively few that are going round and round. There are a few tells. Garbage waziribad Damascus anywhere on their account is one. Translated arabic speech is another. 79FF9AFA-D8ED-443E-85E9-1CE77C6E3424.jpeg
 
Thanks for explaining that to me. I can see why you guys get pissed.
Isn't there a way to stop it or fix it? Or am I just being incredibly naive?
 
Just keep blocking and reporting. They get especially "dangerous" when they either get a significant following of established makers or successfully clone a well known maker.

Also on Instagram, you get lots of offers to make sex, which is always a Miss America or better in the pictures. I'm old enough that I never learned how to make sex online, but in person, so this far I've been able to resist the temptation of forking over my credit card info for cyber love.
 
Bruce McLeish said:
Dumbo alert !!!
Since I don't do any of these kinda sites (Instagram or Facebook or Twitter or the like) I don't understand what is happening to your photos. Are these pirates selling fake knives with your name or what?
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Most likely they're just taking payments without actually sending anything in return, and running off with the money as soon as payment clears. In some cases they may actually send a counterfeit knife, but I'd suspect it's pretty rare. If they send anything, it's probably just be an empty box, or a box with something else in it to "fake" the shipping weight. This way they have something to submit as a counter claim if a buyer cancels payment. "See? I shipped the item, here's proof."
 
Thanks , Drew.
I'm getting a clearer picture now. Just mostly confirms my view that most people are pond scum. If you're not pond scum, DON'T ACT LIKE IT.!
 
MouseLiker said:
I think it is better to use special defense against fake followers and protect yourself and your own audience. I just hope that some of you there will accept one simple truth: sometimes we should defend our personal bonds. Even in the internet.
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So if you have a paid service to offer, why not just post that, and include a link and a description, instead of plugging in a link to an otherwise innocuous comment?
 
Bruce McLeish said:
Just mostly confirms my view that most people are pond scum
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I know sometimes it might feel that way, but I tend to think (hope?) that most folks are honest. That's it's only the few bad apples that get so much attention making it seem like it's LOTS of bad folks.
 
You should always make watermarks on the photos of your products because it can protect you from lazy scammers. But if someone wants to remove the watermark from the photo and pass off the product as their own, you are unlikely to be able to do anything about it. I saw one guy who made a watermark that stretched from one corner of the photo to the other. There was information about his real Instagram page, and this mark was quite difficult to remove. He also bought instagram reels views to make his account more popular. But it requires a lot of patience, and I know I wouldn't do the same thing. Most likely, I wouldn't do social media at all.
 
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KenH said:
I know sometimes it might feel that way, but I tend to think (hope?) that most folks are honest. That's it's only the few bad apples that get so much attention making it seem like it's LOTS of bad folks.
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8 billion people in the world so there are significantly more than just a FEW bad apples. :D
 
I remove them as followers when they follow me and block them and any new accounts they make. I don't understand when they see what I am making and then offer to sell me their garbage to sell as my own. Really???
 
yeah, pretty common on FB and IG. Generally it's the overseas accounts with what I call "gas station knives" and the junk damascus. They'll have tons of pics that are obviously not theirs or ones you've seen on other profiles. Then they'll contact you and try to sell you crap or say they can make knives for you, etc. etc.

They are a pain in the butt
 
Taz575 said:
I remove them as followers when they follow me and block them and any new accounts they make. I don't understand when they see what I am making and then offer to sell me their garbage to sell as my own. Really???
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See their friends list. It's the next account they will use. You can block many of their friends too.
 
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